Thanks for all of the well-wishes about the situation here in Egypt. It is weird not having any idea of what to expect. Of course, we don't want anyone to get hurt (although there has already been one death and several people wounding outside of the capital), but we know that the country needs change so we are not in any way rooting for "nothing" to happen. We just hope and pray that people will use reason and not rage to make their various stances.

From my balcony today, I saw three men, on two separate occasions, walking around in civilian clothes, carrying rifles. An odd sight here in our suburban neighborhood for sure.

I spent the day canning veggies and filling up bottles of water. J kindly did the groceries, buying some non-perishables.

Regarding the gasoline comment in my last entry, J talked with an executive of a major petrol company here in Cairo who said that the country is NOT out of fuel. People, in their paranoia, are stopping as soon as they've used a 1/4 of a tank, staying in line for hours, to fill up their cars all. the. way, which, of course, leads to the cisterns at the gas stations being emptied. And since the refill isn't automatic, people start crying wolf or "the sky is falling."

I think in the future I will avoid reporting things I don't see with my own eyes (even though I did see a couple of stations closed) because I am too lazy to verify rumors. :P